Several years ago while in our crew room, I shared a very stressful situation with a fellow captain.  He listened intently and then asked me a basic question, “Do you know where to lay it down?”  I responded to him with a clarification question, “You mean, my burden?”  He said, “Yes!”  I responded, “I do know”.  He then stated, “You will be just fine then.”  He left the crew room shortly after the comment.

I have reflected on this conversation many times since then.  He had listened to me and then gently asked a basic question with which I could identify.  At that point, I made the choice to surrender my burden to Jesus.  The selfish feelings of entitlement while hanging onto my bitterness takes up precious time that could be used for praising and worshiping God and praying for others throughout the day.  We need to be aware of how these burdens block our focus and how they affect the focus of others around us.  Surrendering or laying down my “Why me?” burden, my “anxiety” burden, the “unknown fear” burden, and “insecurity” burden…I need to do this daily and sometimes several times a day.

The pilot helped me to refocus and be drawn back into the realm of concentrating on what I need to here on earth as it is in heaven.  “Do you know where to lay it down?”  EK   Consider:  “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me,  for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls.”  Matthew 11:28-29 NASB

This thought was written by Eugene Kraybill.  Eugene serves on our FCAP Board of Directors and as Senior Chaplain at the Washington-Dulles International Airport. He is regional Chief Pilot for Mesa Airlines at IAD. 

Adjusting the Thermostat
May 2022

It’s quite warm when walking into the crew room or break room.  The hallways outside in the terminal are refreshingly cool, but the crew room is awkwardly uncomfortable.  The temperature seems on the higher side.  What do you do?  Depending on your crew room, you might say something to another peer and ask if they also feel quite warm or just find the thermostat and seek to lower the temperature setting to cool it down.  The thermostat becomes adjusted.

Application in Our Lives

   How does this apply to us spiritually?  Adjusting the thermostat can be related to being fragrant, so to speak.  In 2 Corinthians 2:15-17, the Apostle Paul speaks of being the fragrance of Christ. As a Christian, I want to have the aroma of Christ Jesus, the fragrance of His life which was given to everyone who has acknowledged and received Jesus into their hearts through faith.  We need to take time and think before speaking …so that when words and actions are given, may they be with grace, seasoned with salt as in Colossians 4:5, 6.  The metaphor with salt is that it provides seasoning and flavor, and also preserves.  This applies to words as well … may the words spoken be with wisdom, have flavor and be valued for a long time.

Seek wisdom to relate to each unexpected encounter at any God given time.  Discernment is important for accountability to keep focus on Christ Jesus.  Sometimes pride or burdens might set in, and we may forget to let go of or lay these down at the feet of Jesus.  Common sins that take root will block our ability to reflect God’s love through Christ Jesus.  Before He prophesied about His death and resurrection, Jesus shares (Matthew 11:28) about giving rest to “all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens…”  He draws us to himself.  He will give each person rest.

Laying Down our Burdens

   Several years ago while in our crew room, I shared a very stressful situation with a fellow captain.  He listened intently and then asked me a basic question, “Do you know where to lay it down?”  I responded to him and asked the clarification question, “You mean, my burden?”  He said, “Yes!”  I responded, “I do know”.  He then stated, “You will be just fine then.”  He left the crew room shortly after the comment.

I have reflected on this conversation many times since then.  He had listened to me and then gently asked a basic question with which I could identify.  At that point, I made the choice to surrender my burden to Jesus.  The selfish feelings of entitlement while hanging onto my bitterness takes up precious time that could be used for praising and worshiping God and praying for others throughout the day.  We need to be aware of how these burdens block our focus and how they affect the focus of others around us.  Surrendering or laying down my “Why me?” burden, my “anxiety” burden, the “unknown fear” burden, and “insecurity” burden…I need to do this daily and sometimes several times a day.

The pilot was a brother in Christ, and he was setting the thermostat controls to a desired temperature that would lighten my load, make the room more comfortable, and allow me to refocus and be drawn back into the realm of concentrating on what I need to here on earth as it is in heaven.  “Do you know where to lay it down?”

Entering the Throne Room

   The Lord’s Prayer provides guidance as to how to lay down the burden.  Enter the throne room of God and, as a servant, express and acknowledge God’s holiness and greatness.  Acknowledge the burden, be transparent, ask Jesus for help.  Then as transparency is given, I believe pride loses grip, resentment dissolves, and extending forgiveness becomes easier to the person who burdened me, even if that person is me. I pray for God’s hand to be involved.  Trusting God’s ordained timing, I believe the aroma and fragrance naturally grows stronger.  The thermostat will naturally be adjusted for the Kingdom of God. EK

“Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.  Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.  And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.  For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.  Amen.”   Matthew 6:9-13 NASB

Additional Scriptures: 2 Corinthians 2:15-17; Colossians 4:5,6; Matthew 11:28

 This article was written by Eugene Kraybill.  Eugene serves on our FCAP Board of Directors and as Senior Chaplain at the Washington-Dulles International Airport. He is regional Chief Pilot for Mesa Airlines at IAD.  His wife Christina also serves in the IAD Chapel.

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The smile on their faces says it all!  For quite a while it was not possible for this long-standing group of FCAPers to meet in person, but over the past several months, they have been able to do so.  It was a joy for our new FCAP General Director, Jake Joseph (far right), to join them for fellowship time together on Saturday, April 30, in a local home.  (Seated in front row are the FCAP-Denver leadership team (l-r) Brad and Mindy Minnard and Charlotte Smith).

In a recent social media post, Charlotte Smith (Denver-based Frontier flight attendant) shared what FCAP means to her:

“I love FCAP… I have met lifelong friends, skied in Austria, hiked the Swiss Alps and sailed Greek Islands.  But the best part is knowing God in deeper relationships!”

 

Recently Flight Attendant Joy Owens Guliani and her daughter, Acadia, spent time in Poland ministering to men, women and children who have been displaced from their homes in the Ukraine.  Joy shares the following thoughts on the Fruit of the Spirit from what she has observed while there:

 

 

“The fruit of the Spirit is not a banana… or an apple, an orange, a grape, a peach or a pineapple. Those fruits are what we, along with about a dozen other volunteers, cut up to put in the fruit salad every morning and serve to approximately 1000 people by noontime. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. This fruit I have seen in so many ways since I’ve been in Kraków these past 10 days.

 

 

When Emily asked the salty older Welshman we had been volunteering with why he came here, without any hesitation he replied,

‘Love.  And I’m going to cry like a baby when I have to leave.’

Joy – in the midst of tragedy and trauma, to hear a child laugh as they chase bubbles we’re blowing or a mom laugh as she shows off her Chinese jump rope techniques brings joy to our hearts. And to theirs.

Peace – what we are all praying for in the midst of this awful, heartbreaking situation.

Patience as people wait in long lines to be served a meal, wait for their appointment at the embassy or in a line to pick through used clothing in the clothing tent.

Kindness is everywhere. The volunteers here from around the world, including Ukraine, are such an amazing group of people who show kindness every day by serving food, wiping tables, cleaning floors, emptying trash, interpreting for each other and so much more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Faithfulness  – in the MTW crisis team every day as they faithfully run the shelters, drive caravans of goods into Ukraine, work to find placements for displaced people all over Europe, operate a help center, and more, all in a country where none of them speak the language.

Gentleness – listening to Emily doing a medical consultation with an older Ukrainian woman at the shelter yesterday and hearing the gentle way she spoke to her made me think how cared for the woman must have felt and how it must have given her a feeling of security knowing she was in capable hands in the midst of such unsettled and confusing circumstances.

Self-control – I see a lack of this when some kind of unusual items are brought to the tent for distribution and people mob those trying to distribute them. It’s sometimes frightening how they crowd and grab and demand. But I think, ‘I have never in my life been in a situation even remotely like the one they are in right now. Do I have any idea how I might react in the same situation?’  It’s a sobering thought.

What an absolute blessing it is to be here and serve alongside my daughter, my friends I brought along and the new friends I’ve made here. So many amazing people and experiences.”

 

From FCAP…

Thank you, Joy, Acadia and the many others that have sacrificially gone to serve in such a way.  Thank you to those who have prayed for them.  Thank you for those who provided the resources needed to make their outreach possible.

Dear Acadia shared her beautiful talent on the violin with the people as she played their national anthem.  May this encourage you as we are sure it did all who heard it there.  National Anthem of the Ukraine.

 

The Positive Side of Vulnerability
March  2022

This past week was a tough one for our family.  Our foster daughter went back to be with her birth mother after living with us for two years.  She was our “pandemic baby.”  She arrived in February 2020 in all her 16-month glory just as the world was starting to get very familiar with the word Covid-19.  She supplied lots of laughter and hugs during those two years.  She was a great “snuggle puppy.”  Hugging a toddler just seems to make the world right even when she and you are dealing with some tough stuff.  While we hope and pray it is best for her to be with her biological mother, it stung our hearts and I am sure we will always be grieving her departure from our home.

Revealing Ourselves to Others

   The response we usually receive when we tell others about our journey as foster parents is, “I could never do that.  I’d get too attached to them.”  I am quick to respond that I cannot do it either.  It is only by God’s grace and strength through our family that equips us to love these children and then surrender them.  A piece of our heart always goes with them and the sting to the heart never gets less dull.  We struggle just as any family would struggle.

The day we had our final court hearing I debated about letting a group of coworkers know about her impending departure.  They knew about our foster daughter’s story because we were working together when she arrived.  We are no longer working together, but we still have a group chat that usually involves jokes or aviation news.  Many of the group members aren’t Christians.  I was hesitant about whether I should share with them.

Our culture seems to encourage not revealing our emotions.  Whenever someone asks how we are doing, we always put on a smile and say, “Great.  How about you?”  As Christians, I think we sometimes put even more pressure on ourselves to make sure we do not show cracks in our armor.  We mistakenly think we always need to show we have it together and exhibit the joy of the Lord no matter how we really feel.  I did not want to be an Eeyore in the room, but I felt like God was nudging me.  I told the group and asked them to pray for our family during this difficult season.   I was humbled by their responses.  They were all so encouraging and said they would be praying for us.

 Jesus As Our Example

   Jesus showed vulnerability, and it is why people could connect with him.  He showed vulnerability by leaving his perfect heavenly home to dwell with us, fully God but fully man.  Jesus is fully man amidst all the pains of this sinful world, grief, heartache, loss, rejection, and suffering.  You name it and he has experienced it, so now we have a heavenly priest that can come by our side and comfort us.  When we are vulnerable with our coworkers, it is an opportunity to connect with them and to point them to where our hope comes from.  SW

“Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.  For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.  Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need.”
Hebrews 4:14-16

 This article was written by Stephen Watts. Stephen is a pilot with Delta Air Lines and also serves on our FCAP Board of Directors.

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